Part 25: The Grindery

Main Walkthrough

The world is falling apart. Ghaleon has claimed the power of Althena for his own, and the pair have transformed the Goddess Tower into an enormous, flying vessel. After a humbling defeat Alex will wake up in Meribia, back in his original form, and things have never seemed worse. You're stuck in Meribia now, and there's no looking back.

To push the party back towards Ghaleon you'll need to do the following:

  • Head to the dockside pub in the east of Meribia - it looks more like a warehouse than a pub
  • Speak to Kyle and Nash, who are sitting at a table near the bar
  • Return to Mel's mansion and speak to Jessia and Mia, who are in Mel's office
  • Take the girls back to the bar and talk sense to Kyle and Nash

Bringing the party back together will prompt Laike to show up, and he'll tell you to speak to him once you're ready to go. Before you do, give Ramus a visit. As a show of solidarity he will allow the party to take whatever they want from his store, free of charge. Sell anything you don't need - old equipment, mainly - and stock up on Star Lights and Healing Nuts until you don't have any more room. Meribia is the last place in the game where you can buy anything, and you don't want to be stuck wanting.

Speak to the NPCs of Meribia, if you wish - everyone has something new to say - then return to the pub and speak to Laike. Without spoiling anything he'll send the party on a little trip, and in the process will reveal a great deal of backstory. Alex will become the Dragonmaster again, and he'll receive Althena's Sword, the best weapon in the game. Not only is it strong, Althena's Sword will give Alex an extra normal attack. Be sure to equip it the second you regain control of the party.

Ready or not, the time has come. Steel yourself for the final dungeon of Lunar: Silver Star Story.

Althena's Fortress

Enemies

  • Cannon Thug - 324 HP - Can Paralyze targets
  • Death Warrior - 243 HP - Can Poison targets 
  • Gades - 495 HP - Strong melee attacker - Weak to Ice, resists Fire
  • Necromancer - 297 HP - Ranged attacker - Weak to Sword, Fire, resists Ice
  • Ring Horn - 250 HP - Melee opponent - Weak to Sword
  • Stone Creep - 378 HP - Can Mute targets - Resists Sword
  • Ultra Fiend - 599 HP- Can OHKO targets - Resists all

1F

You'll start off on a balcony on the outside of the fortress. Head inside. You'll find yourself in a rectangular clearing, and you'll be trapped inside until you defeat all of the nearby enemies. Normal attacks will, for the most part, do fine. East of here is an intersection, though there's nothing of interest to the north or south. Continue east until you find the exit stairs, as well as a chest containing a Silver Light.

2F

Follow the main path south. You'll find a chest containing a Holy Mace along the way. The Holy Mace has the same effect as a Healing Ring when equipped, so if Jessica has one on her you should switch it to someone else instead. 

South of here is another clearing where you're forced to defeat all of the enemies to continue. You'll find a chest containing a Dragon Cane at the south end of the clearing. Head north of the clearing to find another intersection. To the north of the intersection is a clearing that will trap you, though if you fall for the trap you can pop open a chest containing a Starlight Bow. (If you equip this weapon on Nash and give him Ghaleon's Tear he will attack every enemy, and there's a random chance that he'll kill every one he targets. Very handy.)

3F

Save and heal before you leave the stairs on the third floor. As soon as you attempt to cross the bridge in the south you'll run into an obvious fabrication, and a mystery spell will be cast on the party. From this point on two of your party members will randomly be asleep when you begin a battle, and you'll just have to put up with the irritation for a while.

4F

South of the entrance to this floor you'll find a chest containing Insane Armor. To the east the path splits to the north and south. Both lead to clearings that will pen you in until you defeat all of their enemies. The northern clearing has a chest containing an Aegis Robe, while the southern clearing has a chest containing an Angel's Tear.

5F

This area is a forced gauntlet with a few clearings that will lock up. Nothing special. You'll find a chest containing Holy Clothes on the east side of the area, south of the exit.

The sixth floor has a huge, conspicuously-empty clearing. Heal up and save before you head north, as a long-time-in-the-making battle is about to spring on your party.

Royce 

Weakness: Ice
Resists: Fire

Finally, a rumble with Royce. The fortune teller has finally put herself in harm's way, and Royce is more than capable of wiping out your party if you don't keep everyone's health high. She uses the following attacks:

  • Shoot Lancer, a ranged attack against a single target (Royce hovers upright)
  • Flare Strike, a Fire attack against a single target (Royce lifts one leg and holds her staff diagonally)
  • Cross Bridge, a line attack against (potentially) multiple targets (Royce crouches)
  • Flare Strike, a Fire attack against your whole party (electricity appears around Royce's staff)
  • Flame Bird, an attack that damages and restrains a character for several turns (the flames around Royce change color)
In addition to all of the above, two of your party members will begin the battle asleep. Assuming Jessica is awake you should use Cleanse Litany to bring at least one of them to their senses, before Royce can hit them.

Overall this is a pretty standard fight. Buff up Alex and Kyle, per usual, then have them, Mia, and Nash use their best single-target attacks to pummel Royce. Jessica should heal every round. Aside from just straight damage the only wrench Royce can throw in the works is Flame Bird, which can stop one of your characters acting for a few turns, so make sure you have healing items in everyone's inventory just in case Jessica is the one to be incapacitated.

Defeating Royce will finally get her out of your hair, and earn you a Silver Light for your trouble. Good riddance. Head north of the battlefield to find a statue of Althena - this is a good place to grind levels, if your party feels too weak for the area - and to enter the next section of Althena's Fortress, the Goddess Tower.


6F

This floor contains hallways to four floor buttons. If you head into the northern-most room you'll receive a message that serves as a hint for what to do next - namely, trace the path of the dragons that you visited earlier in the game. Each buttont pad is surrounded by colored circles that indicate which dragon it represents. Enter them in this order:
  • White (southeast)
  • Red (southwest)
  • Blue (northwest)
  • Black (northeast)
Hitting all four buttons will allow you to access the central chamber, where you'll find a teleport pad to the next floor.


7F

You'll appear in a room with four teleport pads, each accompanied by another colored orb. You need to enter the teleport pads in the proper order to advance: 
  • White (north)
  • Red (south)
  • Blue (west)
  • Black (south)
Mind that the colors swap around a bit in each room, so it's not just a matter of hitting all four cardinal directions.


8F

This area chucks you into a huge clearing, and you need to, again, enter floor warps in a particular order - though not the same order as before. This time you need to proceed in the following pattern, hitting the small, green floor button in the room where you next appear:
  • Blue (northwest) - will bring you to a chest containing a Sage's Robe
  • Black (southwest) - will bring you to a chest containing a Detonator Armlet
  • Red (northeast) - will bring you to a chest containing a Spook Armlet
  • White (southeast) - will bring you to a chest containing an Insane Sword 
This will create a new teleport pad in the north of the main room.


9F

Shockingly, you've discovered another floor pad puzzle. You're again trigger floor pads in a specific order. This time around, you're going in this order:
  • Red (west)
  • Black (south)
  • White (west)
  • Blue (north)
This will create a set of stairs in the south of the area to a central teleport pad.


10F

You've reached the final stretch. The tenth floor and above dispense with puzzles and instead pit you against enemy after enemy until you reach the top. There's a statue of Althena on the tenth floor, making this a great place to grind up your party in preparation for the final battles of the game. There are only two left, and they're the most difficult you'll face.

On the way up you'll face a few new enemies. The worst of them by far are the Ultra Fiends, which appear as sword-wielding demons on the map. These guys will drain you of resources and are not worth fighting, so when possible you should make an effort to avoid these enemies. They will just force you to use more restorative items when you reach the end of the climb.

These floors are quite small, so we'll go rapidfire through them:
  • 10F - Exit in north.
  • 11F - Has barriers that can only be broken when enemies rush at you from the other side. Exit in south.
  • 12F - Chest containing Spirit Talisman by the entrance. This is an excellent accessory that halves all attacks aimed at its bearer, and should be equipped on Jessica to improve her survivability.
  • 13F - Hit the button by the bridge to extend the bridge and cross north. Northwestern chest contains a Silver Light. Exit in north.
  • 14F - There are four sets of stairs, each in a corner of the room. All lead to the next floor.
  • 15F - Chest in the northwest contains a Silver Light. The exit is in the north, behind the barrier.
  • 16F - Exit is in the south.
That's that. You'll know trouble is brewing when you reach a room that looks radically different from what you've seen to this point. Heal everyone up, save, and head north on the seventeeth floor to face down yet another long-time foe.


Xenobia

The last of the three sisters, Xenobia is also the most powerful... though if you've come this far, you can handle her. (And if you can't, well, you're definitely not ready for the final boss.) Xenobia uses the following attacks:
  • A melee attack (two attacks per round)
  • Aura Shot, a heavy, ranged, AOE attack (Xenobia hunches over)
  • Sonic Boom, a line attack against multiple targets that can inflict Stone (Xenobia crosses her arms over her face)
  • Chaos Wave, a magic attack against your whole party (Xenobia has green energy running between her hands)
The major snag here is Sonic Boom, which can, depending on character placement, Stone multiple members of your party at once. Your characters are only a turn away from being fully petrified, as well, so you'll have to act fast. Your team members nevertheless fall into some familiar roles:
  • Alex needs to buff up and use Sword Dance, per usual. That said, Sonic Boom is dangerous enough that Alex should use Blue Dragon Healing to bring everybody back to normal if multiple characters get Stoned. Make sure someone keeps Alex's MP high enough to use this move in a pinch.
  • Kyle buffs up and uses Power Slash. Simple.
  • Jessica, as ever, needs to be on healing duty. If she's not restoring HP you can use Cleanse Litany to dispel Stoning on single targets.
  • Mia should buff your attackers, then use either of her single-target spells to damage Xenobia.
  • Nash should be your item-slinger, per usual, and blast Xenobia with Thunderbolt when everyone is in the clear.

Defeat Xenobia and, like Royce, you'll earn a Silver Light for your troubles. Once the leader of the Vile Tribe is gone you'll only have one target left, and he is much more difficult than every other boss in the game. You'll want to do some prep before you enter the final door in the Goddess Tower:
  • Heal everyone to full, and restore MP. Use Star Lights to restore MP as much as possible.
  • Outfit each of your party members with a few Silver Lights, one or two Angel's Tears, and a Healing Nut. This battle will be long, and you need to be prepared for Jessica to get knocked out.
  • Equip accessories that emphasize healing and defense. Healing Rings are a no-brainer, and the Spirit Talisman is quite handy. Anything that raises magic defense or resists one or more elements is also wise.
  • Equip all the gear you found in Althena's Fortress. You picked up enough of it that you may very well have forgotten to add one or two pieces of equipment to your characters along the way. Every little bit helps.
  • Save your game. If you forget this you'll, at a minimum, need to fight Xenobia again, assuming you lose the next fight.
Ready? Then head through the door in the north. You-know-who is waiting.


Magic Emperor

The final battle. Ghaleon is not messing around, and will hit your party with everything he's got. Ghaleon also has way more HP than any other enemy you've encountered - how much depends on Alex's level, though you can expect something over 10,000 HP - which makes this fight quite lengthy. You'll need to use every skill you've acquired to bring him down. Ghaleon uses the following attacks:
  • A melee attack (two attacks per round)
  • Worm Crush, a melee AOE attack (Ghaleon holds his hands around his chest level)
  • Inferno, a Fire attack against the whole party
  • Nitro Dagger, an Ice attack against the whole party
  • Rock 'N Roll, an Earth attack against the whole party
  • Tornado, a Wind attack against the whole party
  • Siphon Soul, a magic attack against the whole party that drains some HP for Ghaleon
  • Fate Sword, a OHKO against a single target (Ghaleon creates a small, purple bubble of energy in one hand) - always followed by Chaos Shield
  • Chaos Shield, a pair of protective orbs that absorb a little over 1,000 points of damage for Ghaleon before disappearing
  • Hell Wave, a line beam attack that does heavy damage to multiple targets (Ghaleon holds his hand out)
Ghaleon will use two of his moves each turn, which can rapidly reduce the health of your characters. With the exception of Fate Sword and Chaos Shield, Ghaleon seems to choose his attacks at random, though he will never use the same attack twice in a single round.

This battle will largely play out like previous boss battles, with a difference in intensity. Ghaleon hits a lot harder than other bosses, resulting in far more knockouts on your side. Expect everyone's MP to run low a few times, and some ad libbing when it comes to healing, before you reach the end of Ghaleon's HP. Your characters should do the following:
  • Alex, unsurprisingly, should buff himself with Vigor and cut loose with Sword Dance. Blue Dragon Healing is a great option in this battle if anyone is in the red on their HP, as Jessica alone often won't be enough to get them through the next turn.
  • Kyle should go on the offensive with Power Up and Power Slash. Make sure he has good items on hand in case someone needs help. (I imagine because he is more physically-oriented, Kyle seems to die a lot in this fight.)
  • Jessica is the healer, and she should never stop healing. Don't even think about having her attack Ghaleon. Most of the time she will (hopefully) be restoring the whole group with Calm Litany, though if your luck runs bad she may need to use Althena Litany and / or Miracle Litany. Jessica must be kept alive, or your battle is likely over. If you ever reach a turn where Jessica doesn't have anything to do - which is likely to only be the first turn - she can use Saint Litany to give the whole party a bit of HP regen. Every point helps.
  • Mia should spend a big chunk of the fight buffing everyone, starting with Alex and Kyle, then turn to her offensive magic. She's a good candidate for using items, as she never does a ton of damage to Ghaleon.
  • As the speedster, Nash should be the first to use items if someone is in trouble. When Nash isn't slinging items he'll be using Thunderbolt.

Defeating Ghaleon doesn't quite bring an end to the team's troubles, unfortunately, and when you try to climb up to Althena she'll use bolts of magic to push Alex back. If you just try to walk up the stairs Althena will eventually kill Alex, giving you a Game Over. The trick here is to finally use Alex's Ocarina, that stubborn stick of mud in Alex's inventory, to soften Althena's resolve. You can then climb the stairs safely and trigger the ending of Lunar: Silver Star Story. Enjoy!


Epilogue

It shouldn't be a huge surprise that Lunar ends happily, and the party will be sent back to Meribia for a bit of an epilogue. Alex, Nall, and... someone else... will get to explore the city one final time before departing on the boat. For the most part this consists of speaking to all the game's NPCs - those who bothered to travel here, anyway - and getting a glimpse of where they will end up. The most substantial dialogue is found at Mel's manor and on Black Rose Street.

For the most part this is just a wrap-up of everything you've experienced over the course of the game. That said, there are still some tangible benefits to collect, and they're in Ramus's store. Head there and speak to Ramus. After some congratulations he'll give you Luna's Bromide 1. If you paid off Ramus's debt in Burg, waaaaaay back at the beginning of the game, continue to speak to Ramus now and he will also sell you Mia's Bromide 3 and Jessica's Bromide 4. If you didn't pick up the Rememberizer from Ramus earlier in the game you can also purchase it now.

And that's that! Assuming you watched a scene between Jessica, Kyle, and Mel, as well as a scene between Mia, Nash, and Lemia, you've done all you need to do. Head to the boat at the eastern port and you'll find Laike waiting. Speak to him to trigger the credits, and officially bring Lunar: Silver Star Story to a close. Congratulations!

Main Walkthrough